Chennai/Delhi: South Zone v Central Zone, 1st semi-final

Chennai: Central Zone have made it to the final of the 2011-12 Duleep Trophy on the basis of a first-innings lead in the semi-final against South Zone. Mohammad Kaif, who set the foundation of Central’s first innings with a solid century, and scored 43 in the second essay, was named Man-of-the-Match after the game ended in a draw.

Resuming at 378 for five on the final day, Central declared their second innings at 530 for eight. Robin Bist, who had reached his 100 at the fag end of Day 3, went on to score 160 before being trapped on his legs by Manish Pandey. His overnight partner Bhuvneshwar Kumar scored 85 before captain Piyush Chawla struck an aggressive 53. Stuart Binny (two for 38) and Manish Pandey (two for 45) picked up two wickets each for South. Chasing an imposing target of 641, South ended the match at 152 for two with S Badrinath unbeaten on 58. Scorecard

North Zone v East Zone, 2nd semi-final

Delhi: East Zone have booked a berth in the final of the Duleep Trophy after beating North Zone on the basis of a first-innings lead in the semi-final between the two sides. Anustum Majumdar (144) and Manish Vardhan (124) batted for most of Day 4 as the match ended in a draw. The two batsmen put on a 251-run partnership after East lost their first wicket early.

Pradeep Sangwan accounted for three East wickets in the second innings while Parvinder Awana and Harshal Patel picked one each.

Ashok Dinda, who wrecked the North’s first innings with an eight-wicket haul, was declared the Man-of–the-Match. Chasing a daunting 348 runs, North ended the final day on 126 for three. Shahbaz Nadeem picked two of those wickets while one wicket fell through a run-out.

East Zone will now meet Central Zone in the final of the tournament which begins on February 12 in Indore. Scorecard